Year-ender: Hit Chinese variety shows in 2025

The Chinese Restaurant Season 9

In its ninth season, The Chinese Restaurant made its African debut in Morocco, using Chinese cuisine as a bridge between cultures.

The 12-episode restaurant start-up reality show stars celebrities such as Huang Xiaoming, Jiang Yan, Ding Yuxi and Shen Yue. Aired weekly on Hunan Satellite TV and Mango TV from June to September, it recorded 150 million valid episode views in the third quarter of 2025.

Over 21 days, the celebrity partners experienced the ups and downs of running a restaurant in a foreign country. Alongside classic Chinese dishes, the menu drew attention for its fusion of Chinese and Moroccan flavors. Local ingredients and spices combined with Chinese cooking techniques to create new tastes, appealing to diners from different backgrounds. The show documented the restaurant's growth from an unknown newcomer to a local favorite.

After nine editions, The Chinese Restaurant has been hailed as a symbol of "culinary diplomacy". The series has sparked broad discussion on social media, with its main topic on Weibo, the Chinese equivalent to X, surpassing 29 billion views since its launch in 2017.